The website for the N300 million Capacity Building Fund for the Nigerian film industry is now live. The website, www.projectactnollywood.com.ng, was activated around noon today, News Express can confirm.

Apart from the Home Page, the website features other departments, namely, “ABOUT THE PROJECT”, “CAPACITY BUILDING FUND”, “INNOVATIVE DISTRIBUTION FUND” and “FILM PRODUCTION FUND”. The very first story on the website dwells on the “OBJECTIVE OF THE PROJECT”. There are also contact details for those interested in accessing the funds.

The launch of the website “signals the commencement of the historic Fund as corporate and individual practitioners in various aspects of movie craft and production can apply for various specified grants under the Fund to boost their skills and capacity,” says Paul C Nwabuikwu, Special Adviser to the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

As explained by Nwabuikwu, “The Capacity Building Fund which was announced recently is the first part of the N3 billion support fund for Nollywood which was pledged by President Goodluck Jonathan.

“The Presidential Intervention Fund, called Project ACT Nollywood, is managed by the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and the Minister of Tourism, Chief Edem Duke.

“The Capacity Building Fund is the first of a series of initiatives planned under Project ACT Nollywood. It is made up of two components.

“The first is a Training Fund of N150 million dedicated to training and skills acquisition for Nollywood Practitioners in all competencies along the entire value chain of Nigeria’s movie industry.

“These include Scriptwriting, Directing, Production and Production Design, Special Effects, Lighting, Sound, HD Techniques, Acting, Cinematography, Make-Up, Editing, etc.

“The second component is the Capacity Development Fund which is also worth N150 million. It will give grants to existing Nigerian-owned private institutes that offer training courses, programmes and technical certification in the movie industry.

“Additionally, the Capacity Development Fund may be used to upgrade existing facilities, procure equipment and develop internal capacity to offer a set of courses/training programmess, which address key skills gap.

“To benefit from the Capacity Development Fund, interested institutes must show evidence they were registered before 1^st January 2013 and be competent enough to train according to global best practices (including for organizations partnering with training programmes from reputable international film institutions) on a sustainable basis.”

Speaking on the development, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala said that the establishment of the fund underscores government’s commitment to supporting Nollywood in recognition of the film industry’s contributions to the economy and projecting the country.

“This,” she said, “is the first of the initiatives planned under Project Act Nollywood. And it shows that the President is keeping his word to the industry and to Nigerians. Nollywood deserves this support because it has added value to the economy by creating jobs and acting as an ambassador to the country, projecting Nigeria to many parts of the world that hitherto knew little or nothing about the country.”

The minister stressed that Project ACT Nollywood is not for sharing to practitioners but that the overall objective is to support the industry in a sustainable way that practitioners can leverage on to improve their capacity and output in key areas.

The Fund is open for applications from July 2013 to December 2013. Courses commencing after 31^st December are eligible provided the application is received before 31^st December 2013.

•Photo: Shooting of a Nollywood I progress.